Bài tập cá nhân marketing management

According to Kotler, "A company must identify the parts of the market that itcan serve best and most profitably".The computer market has various products which can basically be classifie

Bài tập cá nhân Marketing Management -

CONTENT I.INTRODUCTION:

Under the pressure of globalization, the stormy development of technology and the opening

of new markets, the world economy has changed dramatically in the past decade.Globalization is a business development opportunities that the big economics organizations

in the world can not be ignored, because they have the advantage of the resources and playrules of the predecessors Beside, the development of technology , especially informationtechnology, has removed all barriers of space and geography Customers now have morerights than ever before Thanks to the technology they have access to information aboutproducts better, so they have many more choices Technology has also helped to shorten thetime that an idea needs to have for becoming a ready serves customers' product Many yearsago, automakers companies could only come up with one new model each year Today theycan introduce to the market 5.6 new models in a year On the other hand , technology hasalso posed a challenge for businesses : the life of the product on the market is shortened Previously, people used a mobile phone in 2-3 years time is normal , then for today's youth ,

if after a year you do not change the cell phone , it is abnormal Globalization has alsochanged the nature of business activities, instead of concentrating produce the best products,the cheapest possible, businesses have shifted their attention to the market In order to attractmore customers, the enterprises need to understand customer demands better, they needbetter communication about their products, and they need to build a long term relationshipbetween brands with audiences target Because of these reasons, marketing becomes anincreasingly important function in the business After the industrial revolution of thenineteenth century, the science of marketing was born and became an indispensable tool ofbusiness Studying marketing management and applying the knowledge of this interestingsubject is an indispensable duty of every enterprise That's the key features to exist anddevelop of enterprises

On the purpose of this paper, I would like to focus on five contents of marketing included:First, the definitions of marketing; second, explain market segmentation with suitableexamples; third, justify the statement "PLC as a tool for marketing strategy"; fourth,Elucidate the topic “Advertising forces people to buy goods that they do not want" ; finally,Explain the process of integrated Marketing communication What will be presented here is acombination of what I learnt, read and experienced.

II BODY

1 Explain the following: (a) Production concept (b) Product line (c) Augmented

product (d) Social marketing concept (Source: Kotler, Philip (2000) Marketing

Management Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall)

a Production concept: This concept is the oldest of the concepts in business It holds that

consumers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive Managersfocusing on this concept concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low costs, andmass distribution They assume that consumers are primarily interested in productavailability and low prices This orientation makes sense in developing countries, whereconsumers are more interested in obtaining the product than in its features.The productionconcept believes that the consumer will favour products that are readily available atreasonable prices Improvement in production and distribution effiency will be the focus areafor managements under this concept

The most understandable example for this concept is the case of Ford Motor Company (also

known as simply Ford) Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker

which adopt production concept When Ford came out with its car model T, Henry Fordbelieved that if cost is reduced more people would buy it Ford did not have any concernabout customer's preferences and joked that the customer can have any colour for the car,privided it was black The production concept though useful in some situations , can result in

“marketing myopia” according to the Theodore Companies following this concept focus toonarrowly on their own activities and lose sight of the real objective of customer’s needsatisfaction But with the continuous industrialization and more and more players entered intothe market, too many people were selling the same product Production concept to

Customization concept where each and every product is manufactured and delivered

according the tastes and choices of the customer

Take, for example: Dell is one of the world's largest computer systems companies which is

globally known for building personal computers, enterprise products like servers as well asstorages and IT solutions which are customized per order to match the customer's needs.Theformula of segmentation is the base for strategic marketing Companies realize that theycannot appeal to all customers but have to identify the customers they are able to serve bestand profitably According to Kotler, "A company must identify the parts of the market that itcan serve best and most profitably"

The computer market has various products which can basically be classified into softwareand hardware categories where each are sub-divided into various product segments It is clearthat Dell is focused on the computer hardware market where it started with the desktoppersonal computer as its initial product segment Further product segments such asnotebooks, servers and computer peripherals have been added to its marketing mix asrevenue increased In addition, Dell has partnered with major corporations such as Microsoft

to ensure their products are equipped with the latest software as per customers' needs

Dell mainly uses customer segmentation in its market strategy along with the productsegmentation where it is targeting several market segments and designing separate products

or offers for them On one hand, geographically, Dell has segmented the market into the US/Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific-Japan where each area has different pricing andmarketing strategies On the other hand, demographically, there is no age, gender or race biasbut income, occupation and education play a role in deciding the customer needs and hencethe product offer

b.The product line: According to the oxforddictionaries, it is “An arrangement in a factory

in which a thing being manufactured is passed through a set linear sequence of mechanical or

manual operations” (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/production-line)

A production line is the traditional method which people associate with manufacturing Theproduction line is arranged so that the product is moved sequentially along the line and stops

at work centers along the line where an operation is performed The item may move along

some kind of conveyor, or be moved manually by staff or forklift For example, operationsalong the production line could include assembly, painting, drying, testing, and packaging Ifneeded some parts can be removed from the production line and stored as semi-finishedgoods.

The production line manufacturing process is very suited to high volume manufacturing of asingle product or product group For example, a production line may be used to manufacture

a range of vacuum cleaners, where the only difference between the models is the color of theplastic assembly and the attachments that are included in the final product

The production line is a series of the same products about the structure, function, shape, and

characteristic that can be readily identified Example: There are a lot of Iphone’s categories,

in every term Apple produces its own a certain product lines such as Iphone 3, Iphone 4,Iphone 4S, …

c Augmented product: (http://www.learnmarketing.net/threelevelsofaproduct.htm)

According to Philip Kotler, who is an economist and a marketing guru, a product is more

than a tangible ‘thing’ A product meets the needs of a consumer and in addition to a tangible

value this product also has an abstract value In order to shape this abstract value, Kotler uses

five levels (included: Core benefit of the product, Generic Product, Expected Product, Augmented Product and Potetial product) in which a product is located or seen from the

perception of the consumer These levels indicate the value that consumers attach to aproduct The customer will only be satisfied when the specified value is identical or higherthan the expected value

Augmented Product refers to all additional factors which sets the product apart from that ofthe competition And this particularly involves brand identity and image Is that warm coat instyle, its colour trendy and made by a well-known fashion brand? But also factors like

service, warranty and good value for money play a major role in this For example:

Apple's iPhone design has enabled it to become a smart phone market leader It is andExample for augmented product, one of Apple’s customer said: “ I’ll be buying the iPhone 5regardless of its physical features Why? Because Apple’s augmented product is so much

more than physical features And the company has already delivered where it matters most:the social and emotional components of the phone”.

d Social marketing concept: Societal Marketing is basically a marketing concept that is of

the view that a company must make good marketing decisions after considering consumerwants, the requirements of the company and most of all the long term interests of the society.Societal Marketing is actually an offshoot of the concept of Corporate SocialResponsibility and sustainable development This concept urges companies to do more thanhaving an exchange relationship with customers, to go beyond delivering products and workfor the benefit of the consumers and the society Following is an example of SocietalMarketing Concept: Body Shop is a cosmetic company found by Anita Roddick Thecompany uses only vegetable based materials for its products It is also against Animaltesting, supports community trade, activate Self Esteem, Defend Human Rights, and overallprotection of the planet Thus it is completely following the concept of Societal Marketing

2 Explain Market Segmentation with suitable examples

Market segmentation is an integral part of a company's marketing strategy It is the process ofbreaking down a larger target market into smaller, more homogeneous groups of customersthat you can more efficiently market to Both consumer-oriented and business-orientedcompanies should segment customers using one of several below approaches:

Demographics

Demographic market segmentation is one of the most common approaches to segmentingmarkets With this strategy, a company simply divides the larger market into groups based onseveral defined traits Age, race, gender, marital status, occupation, education and income areamong the commonly considered demographics segmentation traits As a simple example ofusage, a company that sells feminine hygiene products will include "female" in its description

of its primary market segment

nationally can often save by delivering the same marketing messages to a national audiencethrough one television, radio, magazine or newspaper ad Global businesses typically decidewhether to maintain a universal message or tailor messages to each country's marketplace.

Psychographics

Psychographics or lifestyle segmentation has become increasingly common as companieslook to identify consumers based on interests and activities in lieu of demographics As anexample of this strategy's benefits, consider the lifestyle of an outdoor adventurer Campingenthusiasts, for instance, typically have few consistent demographic traits Campers are adiverse group Thus, marketers would likely target a segment of outdoor hobbyists orcampers for new camping equipment through outdoor programs or magazines

Behavioral

Behavioral segmentation is based on user behaviors, including patterns of use, pricesensitivity, brand loyalty and benefits sought A company may have customers with a similardemographic makeup but distinct behavioral tendencies Some may use the product daily,while others use it weekly or monthly Higher-income earners may have more interest inhigher-quality models versus low-cost models This may prompt the provider to targethigher-end products and services to one group and more value-oriented offerings to lower-income or budget-conscious customers

Business Segmentation

Segmenting for business customers often has overlap but commonly includes geographic,customer type and behavior-based strategies Geographic business segmentation is similar tothat with consumer segmenting Customer type segmenting may include business size or thenature of the business Banks, for instance, often have different products for small versuslarge businesses Behavioral segmenting is based on repeat or loyal customers versus one-time users

3 Justify the statement:“PLC as a tool for marketing strategy”

(source:http://www.slideshare.net/Sanzux/plc-strategies-30368392)

Everyday, we're regularly bombarded by advertisements which telling us about exciting newfeatures of existing products; a brand of milk with a new, improved formula; or a yoghurtthat now contains more delicious fruit Meanwhile, at the same time, if we go to the suppermarket, there are lot of products which are seemingly not advertised at all The main reason

of difference in two phenomenons is that the marketers are acting according to where theitem is in its product lifecycle Once a product has been developed and tested, it goes tomarket There it may pass through a product life cycle of four stages: introduction, growth,maturity, and decline This cycle is a theoretical model of what happens to sales and profitsfor a product class over time However, Each product may has a different life cycle, andparticular brands may act differently For example, while frozen foods as a generic class may

go through the entire cycle Some product classes, such as washing machine, stay in theintroductory stage for years Some products, like cooking oil, become classics and neverexperience decline Still others may be withdrawn from the market altogether Nonetheless,the product life cycle may provide some basis for determining revenue earned, contributing

to strategic marketing planning Also, PLC may helps the firm to identify when a productneeds support, redesign, reinvigorating, withdrawal, etc It may help in new product

development planning and in forecasting and managing cash flow

Let’s consider in detail PLC’s 4 stages which have its own characteristics The organizationsare trying to manage the life cycle of their particular products:

Introduction Stage: This stage of the cycle could be the most expensive for a company

launching a new product The size of the market for the product is small, which means salesare low, although they will be increasing On the other hand, the cost of things like researchand development, consumer testing, and the marketing needed to launch, such as the productAdvertising and promotion campaigns, can be very high, especially if it’s a competitive

sector Example for this stage is Holographic Projection: Only recently introduced into the

market, holographic projection technology allows consumers to turn any flat surface into atouchscreen interface With a huge investment in research and development, and high pricesthat will only appeal to early adopters, this is another good example of the first stage of thecycle

Growth Stage: The growth stage is typically characterized by a strong growth in sales and

profits, and because the company can start to benefit from economies of scale in production,the profit margins, as well as the overall amount of profit, will increase This makes itpossible for businesses to invest more money in the promotional activity, such as to increaseconsumer awareness and monitor market – competitors reaction, to maximize the potential of

this growth stage increased consumer awareness Tablet PCs is an example There are a

growing number of tablet PCs for consumers to choose from, as this product passes throughthe Growth stage of the cycle and more competitors start to come into a market that reallydeveloped after the launch of Apple’s iPad

Maturity Stage: During the maturity stage, the product is established and the aim for the

manufacturer is now to maintain the market share they have built up This is probably themost competitive time for most products and businesses need to invest wisely in anymarketing they undertake They also need to consider any product modifications orimprovements to the production process which might give them a competitive advantage Inthis stage, sales reach peak, cost of supporting the product declines, ratio of revenue to costhigh, sales growth likely to be low, market share may be high, competition likely to begreater, price elasticity of demand, monitor market – changes/ new strategies It is necessity

to develop new strategies becomes more pressing: in searching out new markets, developingnew uses, focus on adapting the product, re-packaging or format, improving the standard or

quality, developing the product range For instance, Laptop computers have been around for

a number of years, but more advanced components, as well as diverse features that appeal todifferent segments of the market, will help to sustain this product as it passes through theMaturity stage

Decline Stage: Eventually, the market for a product will start to shrink This shrinkage could

be due to the market becoming saturated (i.e all the customers who will buy the product havealready purchased it), or because the consumers are changeing to a different type of product.While this decline may be inevitable, it may still be possible for companies to make someprofit by changeing to less-expensive production methods and cheaper markets Typewritersare a product that is passing through the final stage of the product life cycle: Typewriters, andeven electronic word processors, have very limited functionality With consumers demanding

a lot more from the electronic equipment they buy

For example: Many year ago, Black and white television had appeared, then color tivi had

appeared and developed, Black & white TV was declined Plasma and LCD appeared morethan ten years ago, thanks to the studies experience, they have changed, created & upgratedthe technology (stereo, hifi, …) and until now the Color TV have continuously beendeveloped in the electronic products market by using various marketing strategies in eachstage to lengthen the product life cycles Most strategies are executed to counter to keymoves and strategies of competitive companies Marketing strategy needs to know where theproduct currently stands, then only it can enable strategies to be made For example if aproduct is already in decline stage the strategies would be different from a product atintroduction Therefore, we can say: “The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is a tool for marketingstrategy”

4 Eluciate the statement “Advertising forces people to buy goods that they don’t want”

The purpose of this part is to eluciate the question whether advertising forces people to buygoods that they don’t want We can argue that the behaviour of the people depends

on the individual personality, economic condition and the way a company advertises theirproduct and the discount offers given to the product Our point is, that there are variousadvertising techniques with various targets Another big question is how can we judge what

kind of goods and services are necessary, and which good is bought only to show-off amongtheir friends and relatives? What is a need, and what is just a will? This paper will argue themanipulation via marketing exists and the advertisement is making us to buy things we donot actually need We would like to stress the importance of psychology which is considered

as a key tool used by advertising companies Only via careful use of psychology aremarketers able to create emotional advertisements that touches our minds, our senses andfeelings that push us to buy things even if it is unnecessary We want to support thestatement by using real examples, that are divided based on the common psychologicaleffect or methods used to force people’s making decision Before discussing the main points,

it is crucial to define and understand the meaning and the definitions of used terms:

Phychological perspective and consumner:

To define our perception consumer behavior, we have to think what can explain consumer’sbehavior and how companies try to influence it Traditionally, there are four differenttheories around consumer behavior:(Consumer Behavior, 2010), including: (1)

Psychological models, (2)Sociological models, (3) Economic models, (4) Stimulus respond

models Therefore, we have to consider the psychological aspect to understand the problem.Indeed, to show how consumers are persuaded by companies, we have to describe aspectsbelow that can influence consumer’s mind We pay attention to motivation because it is thedriving force of behavior and there must be a reason, a motive for purchasing, and usingproducts

Motivation can be described as the driving force within individuals that impels them to

action The driving force is produced by a state of tension, which exists as a result of anunfulfilled need Individuals strive –both consciously and unconsciously – to reduce thistension through behaviour which they expect will fulfill their needs and thus relieve them ofthe stress they feel People experience wishes, desires and needs These can originate fromunmet physical needs or from fantasy On this basis, we can assume that needs can be started

by both internal and external forces Motivation is due to many factors, and motivationalresearchers try to identify and understand these factors Until now, there has been a tendency

to focus on needs, and a popular approach has been to assume that people do not act of their

own will Freud introduced the notion are largely unconscious of the real psychologicalforces shaping their behaviour his theory assumes that we grow up repressing many urges.These urges are never eliminated or under perfect control; they appear as dreams, slips of thetongue, or in neurotic behaviour So, reasons for purchasing a product may be conscious orunconscious Each consumer has his own motives to buy These motives arises fromconsumer’s needs and wants which are based on factors such as wealthy, sex or religion ofthe person

One of the most widely accepted theories for human motivation has been developed byAbraham Maslow His theory can be applied to interpreting how consumer goods andservices can be perceived as satisfying different level of needs of consumers In summary, thehierarchy of needs theory postulates a five-level hierarchy of prepotent human needs Higher-order needs become the driving force behind human behavior as lower-level needs aresatisfied The theory says, in effect, that dissatisfaction – not satisfaction – motivatesbehavior Some psychologists believe in the existence of a trio of basic needs: the needs for

power, affiliation, and achievement The power need relates to our desire to control our

environment It includes the need to control other people and various objects This needappears to be closely related to the ego need, in that many individuals experience increasedself enhancement when they exercise power over objects or people A number of products,such as cars, lend themselves to promises of power or superiority for users

Affiliation is a well-known and well-researched social motive that has far-reaching influence

on consumer behavior The affiliation need suggests that behavior is highly influenced by

the desire for friendship, acceptance, and belonging People with high affiliation needs tend

to have a strong dependence on others They often select goods they feel will meet with theapproval of friends

A considerable number of research studies have focused on the achievement need.

Individuals with a strong need for achievement often regard personal accomplishment as anend in itself The achievement need is closely related to both the egoistic need and self-actualization need People with a high need for achievement have certain traits that makethem open to relevant appeals They are more self-confident, and enjoy taking calculated

risks They research their environment actively, and are very interested in feedback Theirinterest in monetary rewards or profits is primarily due to the feedback that money provides

as to how they are doing

As companies are aware of this effect, they try to exploit consumers perceptions and offerthem products and services according to their needs Also, using special techniques cancreate essential needs from basic want These techniques are described below However,Maslow hierarchy could not be used for all consumers while each consumer thinksdifferently and has own scheme of his needs and wants Therefore, consumers are exposed tooffers that are more and more designed for individual wants Moreover, not only individualsplay important role in various needs Cultural and national changes across the whole worldmust be taken into the account What is considered as need in one country could not bereflected as need in another country In developed world, nobody can imagine the life withoutsocial networks, however, consumers in developing countries do not have access to Internet

at all That is why we believe that the crucial point when talking about manipulation is notreally tailoring an advertisement campaign to people’s need but creating the need itself As

an example could be used Facebook Many years ago, nobody needed social networks,however the situation has changed in past years and people desire to use them every day.Thus, changes from wants to needs are driven by companies They use special techniques tomanipulate with consumers minds and change the way of thinking

Perception: The fact how an individual perceives an external stimuli and the

influence of such stimuli on his reaction is the common tool used in advertisement.Many authors and marketers proved that there are different reactions for the same stimuli,which can be changed according to time, situation or context Traditionally, there are three

main types of reactions: (1) Selective attention: consumer screens out the majority of stimulants.(2) Selective distortion: consumer adjusts his/her perception to his/her current mind set (3) Selective Retention: consumer does not remember everything, he remembers

information which reinforces attitudes and beliefs The background of company’s way ofthinking and how they exploit particular kind of advertisement in particular moment, in aspecific place and by particular person These techniques can be seen as typical manipulation

because marketers know their product and its features and benefits, each product or service isintended for particular segment or target group Moreover, the product is designed tosatisfy particular needs There is an obvious objective behind these activities - to sell asmuch volume as possible To discuss the objection, we can divide consumers on easilyinfluenced consumers and rational thinking consumers who will prove all received message.

We have to state that advertising techniques target on both groups It means that allconsumers are exposed to advertisements that can lead consumer’s stimuli to buy goodsthey do not need

The buying situation: Consumer’s purchase goes through different stages (Consumer

Behavior, 2010): Problem recognition, Information search, Emergence and evaluation ofalternatives, Purchase decision, Purchase, Post purchase evaluation At each stage, they havedifferent motivation and reaction which can be different according to the kind of buying it ishabitual, limited decision making, extensive decision making or impulse All these stage are

opportunities for companies to convince, to influence and manipulate the customers For

instance, manipulation is when advertisement changes a buying from a habitual one to an

impulse one Indeed, in such kind of buying, each stage which is a time of reflection isshorted to push the consumer to purchase The classical example of impulse buying is AppleiOS App Store, where majority of applications are often priced below 3 USD, usually 0,99.This aggressive pricing makes us to do spontaneous buy so we do not care about the smallamount of money spent Man can argue 0.99 is not a big deal, however, the whole App Store

is a huge multi-billion dollar business

To continue, we are going to present some techniques used by companies to show how companies and firms deal with all these psychological aspect to manipulate the client?

This section contains 7 techniques which include: Salesman´s Techniques, GuerrillaMarketing, Psychological pricing, Dreams and Idols, The Bandwagon Effect, Code ofadvertising, Word of mouth marketing

Let begin with Salesman’s Techniques: in this part, we focus on 3 techniques: Limited time offer, Buy one get one free and, Loyalty cards: